Battle Scars
by Skye Fae
Summary: A vampire-like smile. A whisper. All those who crossed me will pay. Alex goes to Brecon Beacons. Cold!Alex Dark!Alex.


Be alert, even so far as paranoid. Never let your guard down. Constant vigilance. Alex had learnt all these since young and it had saved his life more than a few times. But then there was the healthy dose of luck, or Devil's luck as you might choose to call it. And hopefully it would come in handy this time again, and see him through.

For Alex Rider was going back to Brecon Beacons. But this time he would be ready, a snake among lions. A cold predatory smile grazed Alex's otherwise emotionless face, as he stared at the surroundings speeding past him from inside his place in a glinting black driver of the black limousine,as if with a sixth sense shivered,.his thoughts floating to the blond boy with old old old eyes, sitting in the back seat.

Flashback:

"_ALEXANDER JOHN RIDER! Get your bony arse over here right now!" Jack yelled, her voice shaking. Jacqueline, or Jack Starbright as she chose to be called, was a redhead. And as all of us here know, redheads are renowned for their temper. Jack was no exception, and was currently displaying one of those legendary bouts of anger now._

"_Why now of all days, god? Why will you never let me off the hook? Will you just give me a break?But as they say, no rest for the wicked." Alex thought in exasperation. "Coming Jack!" he called as he clomped his way down the stairs. He hoped she hadn't found anything too incriminating, as he didn't want to lie to her again. Jack was in his face as soon as he had reached the final rung. "Alex, WHAT THE HELL IS THIS SUPPOSED TO BE?" She screamed at him, wildly gesturing with her hands while holding a piece of paper in his hands. The sun reflected off her shiny,metal legs._

_**Metal. Not flesh and blood. Egypt. Cairo. The explosion. **_

_**SCREAMING SCREAMING BLOOD COLD JACK DON'T DIE PLEASE DON'T**__**DIE**_

Scenario Change:

_Sabina's face. __**OH GOD HER FACE BLOOD SCREAMING**__ the skin hanging off her body in strips, her mouth carved in a permanent bloody smile, mocking him. Liz and Edward Pleasure, their tongues cut out. Multiple burn and whip marks scattered their bodies. Red in white. __**Red and white**__. A sea of red contrasting the stark white settings they were in, looking so haunted, unmoving, uncaring. They were dead dead dead dead._

Their backs had the shape of a scorpion carved in it.

Scenario Change:

_The Iraqi war. Bombs. Explosions. Deaths. How many shrieks for help had there been? How many had died? Alex was tired, bone achingly so. How much longer would it last? _

_Ben Daniels, his partner turned around him, __**concern?(no one except Jack had ever truly cared for him) **__shining in his blue eyes. "Al, I'm going to go now. I will be back in 5 hours. Heard something about a few of the others stuck in the other side of this hell-hole. Stay here and help. " Both of them knew what he meant by 'help'.His lips turned up in a rather weak semblance of a smile, eyes softening around the edges. "And stay safe, will you? Kill all the murdering bastards."_

_Alex had nodded mutely, not trusting himself to speak then._

_5 hours._

_9 hours._

_18 hours._

_28 hours._

"_Bear to Devil, repeat Bear to Devil, can you hear me? Over."_

"_Devil to Bear, crystal clear. Any news? Over."_

"_Bear to Devil, well there's a chap here asking for you. Brown hair, blue eyes. Pretty beat up if you ask me. He was found in the edge of a ravine, besides the minefields. Blown up somethin' awful. He keeps asking for you…."_

_As the American nattered on, Alex almost dropped the walkie-talkie he was holding. He was numb numb numb(this couldn't be happening Ben was __**NOT DEAD NOT DEAD**__). He stared at the ground, shell-shocked before his brain processed the information given fully and he started running._

_Running. To where he knew Ben would be. _

_He skidded to a halt. Mangled flesh. Blood. So much blood. But those blue eyes weren't sightless. Not yet. _

'_Lo, Alex. " Ben reached a hand out towards him...but it dropped back down shortly. He stared at it. Couldn't think. Need more time. _

"_Alex. Don't ever let things get you down. Stay strong. And keep specks of emotion in that frozen thing you call a heart." A smile. "Do not worry about me. I will be going to a...happier place. Stay safe, keep your friends safe." Sounds of coughing. A beautiful red pattern carved on the sand. "Never lose hope Al, if it's the last thing you do. For if you give up hope, you are dead inside."_

_Back to Flashback scene:_

_Jack stopped, peering at him closely."Alex?" He didn't even want to think about Tom or Yassen. "Alex! Snap out of it!" He jolted out of his trance-like state. "What?" _

_Her eyes softened and small frown lines appeared at the edge of her eyes.. "Alex, Cairo was not your fault. It will never, ever be your fault. Ok?"_

_He had nodded mutely. And just like that, those lines were gone and a bright sunny smile replaced them. "Good! Now, where were we?"_

_Her eyes flashed dangerously and Alex gulped. He was so not going to like this_…

"_Oh right. __**WHY THE BLOODY HELL DO YOU HAVE A WILL, A FUCKING WILL**__ now? I'm happy about the fact that I receive everything and if I die, the rest goes to my parents, but a will? Please! You are too young to die, or even think about dying!" Her eyes were red, and puffy._

_Alex had smiled, a morbid smile. "You're never too young to die, Jack."_

_End Flashback_

_Alex POV_:

_It hadn't worked, had it? Jack had still died. She was still just a lump in the ground, rotting away, acting as fertilizer. Scorpia had come and killed her, a bullet hole perfectly in the centre of her head. Symmetrical. Beautiful. Then the Bank had come and taken him away, and he had just went along, not even resisting because he was so cold, so numb. But they would pay. They would all pay. He smiled, a terrifyingly cold would make all of them regret crossing him. They would beware the last Rider._


End file.
